Memories are something that can’t be taken away. They are a person’s real assets, the ones of true value. In our youth we don’t really pay much credence to this and channel all our energies chasing frivolous material possessions. But as we grow older and wiser, we embrace the fact that money or our standing in society isn’t everything. Memories, experiences, inter-personal relationships and the lessons learnt through life are our true worldly possessions.

In the twilight years of our lives, it is all but natural to want to relive those youthful days, filling our minds with all those beautiful memories of yore. All the things we did through the innocence of childhood, the rebellions of adolescence and the bohemian experiences of our early youth come rushing back, bringing a silent smile to our faces. One of the best periods in my life was no doubt be the carefree college days when life was a song and all I had to do was sing it!

Now that I’m overwhelmed with all these memories of a bygone era, I make it a point to attend high school and college reunions to meet friends, share memories, exchange laughs and catch up on the life that happened to us after we parted ways! We may have a tad too many greys in our hair now, but that doesn’t stop us from becoming kids all over again, especially in the eyes of teachers and professors who played a great role in getting us shipshape to meet the big bad world outside!

Something that I’ve always noticed during reunions is that it’s always the older batches that turn up in numbers and participate more enthusiastically. The more recent alumni have participation in single digit numbers and generally keep to themselves. It probably takes more time for the nostalgia to kick in to really miss those good ol’ days.

And, it’s not just about good times in school and college; there’s always a blush when we think about our first crush, our first date and probably our first real romance that didn’t really pan out! Now that I have the right partner, I find myself wanting to do things right and get them right this time round.

I remember a date that I had during my youth; the guy had chosen a dinner cruise on Sydney Harbour as the venue for our first date. He was coming on a little too strong, sending all the wrong signals, all in an attempt to impress me. Needless to say, the date was a bad experience! Also the choice of a Sydney Harbour dinner cruise for a first date was a bit too much, something that should have ideally been a fourth or fifth date. All faults were rectified and the bad history put to rest when I had a perfect Sydney Harbour dinner cruise experience with my husband and we have been a regular since.

Now that I have the perfect partner, there is so much more that the world has to offer that we want to explore and discover. We want to fill our minds with memories and experiences. Yes, even if our minds are young, our bodies have aged, which is a major obstacle for many senior explorers. But I have to say, it’s all in the mind, age is just a number and don’t let it subdue your passions. Your partner is the pillar of strength and together you can scale heights, supporting each other through thick and thin.

Life isn’t about existing, life is about living. Live each day as if it’s your last. Don’t let anything stand in your way. Explore and see the world. Get out and seek new thrills!

Summer fun begins when school is out and no more studies, that is for some kids. Schools now offer the kids summer school which might include catching up on hours to graduate or learning new skills and attending classes that need improvement. Other kids go to summer school just to be with their friends and have fun. Many schools plan outside activities like going to the park, swimming pool, or going to places to see the fire department, police headquarters and meet the people who serve their community. Some kids participate in crafts and games at school, but overall most kids enjoy their time at summer school.

Some of the sports outside still are going on in most areas. Boys and girls are involved in playing T-ball or baseball, while parents and grandparents cheer them on. It is just part of summer and being outdoors, even when it is hot and muggy. This is a good time to meet other parents and your neighbors that you don’t always see. Usually, you will share a bag of popcorn, candy, ice cream and soda with your kids or grandkids, what a great time to be together. You, of course, will want to take the camera to be able to take that special picture or video of your kids or grandkids. What memories you can make with them for being there at that special time when they catch the ball or make a home run.

As summer season continues the outdoor sports like swimming, riding bikes, going to camp and just being around their friends is important to them.

While dad and mom are packing and getting the car ready to go on vacation. The kids are getting their special toys ready to take with them. Some families will plan to go to spend their time at an amusement park or to the beach, while other families are getting ready to go camping and spending time up in the mountains and enjoying the outdoors and scenery.

Summer is a busy time, but can also be a great time to enjoy the family and be together. Taking time with your family is so important today since days seem to be so busy and our schedules are so full with work and other activities. Our kids and grandkids grow up so fast and leave home to go off to school or take a job away.

We need to slow down and enjoy them while they are young and at home.

Have a great summer outdoors together as a family.

If you think that only the warmer months of the year are good times to sell your house, think again. The colder months brought by the upcoming holiday is also a good opportunity to sell your house. Listed below are some of the reasons you can take advantage of.

Fewer home owners sell during holidays.

The holidays, specifically Christmas, send signal to many homeowners that it is an inappropriate time to let their homes stay on the seller’s market. Many homeowners are also busy with their shopping lists, gift-giving, and Christmas parties.

This creates a unique opportunity for you because their will be fewer competitors. This means more chances for your house to get noticed by more buyers who are also taking the opportunity to buy their new homes.

One precaution to observe is to have your house in its best show condition. Have it clean, simple, and attractive.

Home buyers during the holidays are serious buyers.

The Christmas season is a time when most people busy themselves with various activities related to this festive time of the year. Do you think home buyers during this time will waste their times just to make fun of the homes listed in the seller’s market?

There are various reasons prompting home buyers to grab the holidays as a more serious time to buy a house. There are some who are relocating when the year changes. There are also some people who buy homes for tax reasons. Some buyers also grab the holiday vacations to actually conduct ocular of the houses they see on listings.

And because the holidays is a very busy time, be sure to adjust your showing times to the schedules of potential home buyers.

Less hassles to make your house attractive.

Home staging may be a difficult process to homeowners. But because you are selling your house in a time when decorations are fittingly good additions inside and outside your house, you can be sure that it will bring less hassle to make it more attractive.

Be sure to add decorations that will make the overall atmosphere joyous. Do not over decorate that will tend to make your house look and feel cluttered. You can let your house be a mirror of a home in which your potential buyers can imagine themselves celebrating their next holidays on it.

If your house has spent months in the seller’s market. Do not lose hope. This holiday can be the perfect opportunity for buyers to notice it.

And if you need some professional help, your local real estate agent is always a call away to lend his or her expertise.

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the news at all over the last month or so, you have undoubtedly seen a story or two about Bitcoins. For years this crypto-currency has been a favorite among Magic The Gathering fans and those looking to fulfill a chemical addiction without the authorities catching on.

With each passing day though, Bitcoins are finding their way into mainstream markets, and are poised to become a real alternative to government issued money. On top of all this is a steadily growing “stock exchange” for Bitcoins, which is making smart day traders a fortune. Could you be one of those day traders? Will your favorite online shop ever take Bitcoins? Let’s explore below so you can better understand why you should buy Bitcoins now.

The Exchange Rates Are Favorable, For Now

Most people that choose to buy Bitcoins do so for the investment value. A little over a year ago Bitcoins were worth around 40 dollars each. Last month the currency reached an all time high at about $206, and is currently holding steady in the $100 range. Fortunes have been made by buying Bitcoins and selling them at the right time.

The Bitcoin mini bubble burst last month, and this has scared off a few novice investors; but this is actually a consistent occurrence. The important thing to realize is that each time that the currency recovers, it jumps to an even higher value. It is volatile; but very profitable. Plus, with a limited number of Bitcoins in existence the value is expected to continue climbing for the foreseeable future.

New Websites Are Taking Bitcoins Every Day

What drives that growth though? It isn’t just speculation, this would cause Bitcoin to collapse like so many other crypto-currencies of the past. Bitcoin survives and continues to grow because it is actually seeing adoption online. Currently, this is limited to singular outlets. Online clothing shops, service providers (coding, design, etc.), and other “novelty” products make up the majority of Bitcoin adopters so far; but they are just the first wave.

Currently, PayPal is trying to find a way to adopt Bitcoin into its current model, and this could mean that partner eBay isn’t far behind. This will lead to an explosion of Bitcoin use online. But there is an offline presence as well, with the first Bitcoin ATM opening earlier this month. Content aggregation site Reddit had a post earlier this week depicting a convenience store that had its very own “We accept Bitcoin” sticker, the only thing holding them back is better implementation.

Bitcoin Is Still At The “Ground Floor” Stage

The biggest reason that you should buy Bitcoins though is that this currency is still on the ground floor. All indicators point to the currency seeing huge jumps in value and implementation in the near future. Those who are already invested in Bitcoin, and those that jump in during the immediate future, stand to see huge returns on their investment.

Will you make the wise choice, or will you kick yourself for missing out on the next big thing?

I often hear the objection from potential clients, “Now is not a good time.” While it’s understandable that the past five years have been financially challenging the question I often ask is, “When will it be a good time?” However this question sounds like I’m begging the point. As anybody can tell you begging is not the way to gain clients. Therefore, the question I ask instead is, “When is the best time to get sick or hurt?”

This question always seems to make the potential client pause and for good reason. I’m never certain what the person is actually thinking, but obviously they’re thinking. That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make. Just because we mentally decide to put things off doesn’t change what could and statistically can happen to us.

Here are a few statistics to help prove my point.

Do you save any of your annual income? 48% of U.S. families don’t.

68% of adult Americans have NO savings earmarked for emergencies.

65% of working Americans say they could not cover normal living expenses even for a year if their employment income was lost; 38% could not pay their bills for more than 3 months.

Just over 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-olds will become disabled before they retire.

Every 40 seconds someone in the US has a stroke. 600,000 people will experience their first stroke (this year).

Every 34 seconds, an American will suffer a heart attack. 785,000 will have a new coronary attack (this year).

Of course, the honest answer to the question is there is no good time to get sick or hurt, but for many Americans getting sick or hurt would be financially devastating. That’s why it’s important for employers to offer voluntary benefits such as accident sickness plans, disability income and critical illness plan.

Employers should offer these plans as a generous way of offering some type of benefit to their employees. On a practical level it helps cover any liability the employer may face. Also, it helps gap existing benefit plans such as deductibles, coinsurance etc. Employees should closely weigh their options as to those things which concern them the most. Does cancer run in the family? Am I a sole breadwinner? Does someone in the family participate in sports or other activities that could be accident prone?

There is no good time to get sick or hurt. There are ways to protect oneself and one’s business. Now is the best time to act. Like the old adage goes, “There is no better time than the present.”

With the housing market in the horrible state that it is you may be wondering if now is a good time to buy a brand new home. Because of the housing bubble many new home builders have folded and other survived. The ones that have survived have found way to hold on or put off building or condense their building areas to be able to concentrate in fewer developments.

Most of the homebuilders that survived are finding ways to be competitive in this housing market. They may have cut back on some of the standard upgrades, lowered the quality of certain items so that their prices can lure buyers into their subdivisions.

Many homebuyers prefer to have a brand new home over a lived in home especially those that are in disrepair like a lender owned home or a short sale which many times are not being well taken care of.

For this reason, it is not a bad idea to consider buying a brand new home. If you are looking for the lowest priced home in the are then a new home will likely not be for you. They certainly cannot compete with a lender owned home or some short sales although in some areas they can even be competitive with those.

Other reasons to consider a new home are the fact that you get to choose your own options, your own design, plan your landscaping, start fresh with paint color, carpet color, where you choose to put tile or wood flooring. It is always exciting to move into a home that no one else has ever lived in.

One thing many buyers are starting to look back into new homes is the fact that they have an edge over lender owned and short sale homes because they have a warranty on the home and someone there to take care of any little issues that may arise especially in the first year of home ownership. That is something that the others just cannot compete with in this market.

The down side of course is you will pay a little more for a new home, you will have to put in things like landscaping, a pool, window treatments and paint. These costs generally are more built into a re-sale home and you end up paying far less for them.

Do not discount the idea of buying a new home right now, as a realtor, I am finding more of my buyers are leaning this way. Take your realtor with you to help negotiate and keep you within your budget. It does not cost you any more to be represented and the builder will not give you any more of a discount if you go without representation.

Having a good time is probably the last thing on your mind right now. Staying away from your ex is also the last thing that you want to do. If you were told that these were the very things that would make your ex miss you like crazy, would you do it? Of course you would!

The thing is, you are too upset after the break up to go out and have a good time. The way you’re feeling right now is also the reason why you feel that you HAVE to make contact with your ex. It’s normal to feel like this just after your relationship has ended, but try to understand that it is NOT the way to make your ex miss you like crazy.

Read on, and you will definitely see that you can make your ex miss you like crazy by doing the following things. First of all, resist any temptation to make contact with your ex. There are two reasons for this. One, your ex needs time to get over the bad feelings he/she has after the break up, and two, if your ex doesn’t see you for a while, he/she will start missing you.

Now, to really make your ex miss you like crazy, concentrate on having a good time and looking good. If you’ve let yourself go since the break up, go all out to look absolutely amazing again. Your looks were part of the reason why your ex feel for you, so make it happen again!

Finally, call up your friends and tell them that you are tired of sitting around feeling sorry for yourself and you are ready to have a good time. Then, go out and do it! Really have a blast. Okay, so you are not with your ex – yet, but being with friends and doing fun things will make you feel a whole lot happier.

Your ex has not heard from you in a while – this will bother him/her. Not only that, but your ex has also been hearing how fantastic you look, that you are living it up like there’s no tomorrow, and that you are an amazing person to have around as well. This can only produce one result – it is going to make your ex miss you like crazy! Try it – it really works!

Kermit the Frog is the most recognizable Muppet around, and what a terrific theme Kermit makes for a child’s birthday party. It’s hard to go wrong when revolving a party around this signature Muppet.

Kermit the Frog parties are a hit for children from almost any age. With his lovely lady Miss Piggy in tow decorating for the party should be a cinch. If pre-printed partyware is not available then use the color palette of pink and green in mind when purchasing utensils, napkins and plates. Pink of course is Miss Piggy’s signature color and everyone knows that Kermit’s color is green.

Don’t forget to include Kermit’s other friends Fozzy the Bear, Scooter and the Swedish Chef when searching for party decorations. Their friendly faces appear all over in figurines, posters and movies and are a welcome addition to any Kermit the Frog Party.

Baking a cake for a Kermit the Frog party is much more simple than you might think. If a Kermit the Frog cake pan is hard to find, a football shaped cake pan will work just as well. Just bake the cake normally in the pan and save enough batter to make two cupcakes. Place these at the top of the Kermit the Frog head as eyes and ice accordingly. Just make sure to stock up on food coloring if you have a hard time finding colored icing.

Kermit the Frog parties are great for children of all ages and will be certain to entertain all of your guests!

When you have a Damascus experience like Paul, it changes your life radically. Before, Paul killed Christians; now he supports the other side 100%. He is driven to use all his energy to tell people about Jesus. When you meet Jesus face to face, everything changes to completely.

No prison can stop Paul. No stick that hits his body, no shouting or spitting by a soldier will stop him. His passion to save others from eternal fire burns constantly and nothing can put it out, 4… that God will open doors for telling the mystery of Christ, even while I’m locked up in this jail. Pray that every time I open my mouth I’ll be able to make Christ plain as day to them.

I’m embarrassed by my own little fire. It is so easily extinguished or put out. So easily I keep quiet and rather say nothing, because nowadays we have to give everyone space to believe as they like.

I take my hat off to a number of teachers in my son’s school. They saw the need to help dads to connect to their sons and started a movement called Engage. Any father and son are welcome.

They know many are not Christians. They are careful and try not to offend. But they are not afraid to say exactly who they believe in. Even the head boy who talked directly to the young boys stated clearly that he had made a choice for Jesus in his life. How wonderful it was when this same head boy concluded the evening with a prayer and blessed everybody.

Here one could see that today there are still people like Paul who cannot keep quiet. The secret must be revealed. The risk doesn’t matter, whether it is imprisonment or the government or losing your friends, every person must hear the good news.

I think they know how to tell the right thing at the right time. Yes, they are sensitive and give space. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t speak up. By hook or by crook, the secret must out!

I realise that we cannot make it work on our own. Paul knows that too. I suspect that Paul’s personality is more a “turn or burn” technique, and, therefore, he asks for reinforcements. We are too weak. Either our fire is extinguished or we are insensitive and drives people away before we get a chance to give the message.

God must help us. We need God’s Spirit to guide us so that we can say and do the right thing at the right time. May it be so. May we be sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit.

Let us strive to follow Paul’s example. May we be like the teachers at my son’s school and burn like the head boy to tell the good news and may God’s Spirit guide us to do it in the right way at the right time.

Scripture

Colossians 4:2-6

Reflection

Do you long to tell God’s secret?

Do you do it in the right place and at the right time?

Do you call reinforcements?

Prayer

Father, please help me to use every opportunity. Please help me not to be embarrassed to tell the good news of salvation to others. Amen.

As I was jogging this morning my iPod popped on the lyrics: “I’m not here for a long time, but I’m here for a good time” by George Strait. The melody flows gently while also empowering feet and mind to run, and that is not found in just any old tune. Yesterday my dear friend lost her mother. Her mom, lovingly called Mimi, had fallen last winter and broken her arm and while the break had healed, she had not returned to her vibrant self. Pale and worn in appearance, her smile still radiated, but with a little less intensity, and some of her vitality was diminished.

Mimi had served as our city’s public librarian for the last 50 years. She was just about ready to retire and a search for her replacement had begun but her official exit papers had not been signed. Because of this latter, her years of paying into the state retirement system apply to naught. Instead of drawing her pension for many years to come, it simply rolls back into the retirement plan. This seems both satisfactory and horrible. Horrible because she worked so long and invested so much but will not reap the rewards; satisfactory because Mimi loved her job, worked hard, and had not been ready to leave it until just a few months ago. So I guess she enjoyed her good time, even though she was not here for long time, at least not long enough.

Yes, Mimi had had a degree of longevity; I am guessing about 75 years. I base this on her years of employment added to the ages of her children. Mimi’s appearance and demeanor belied her age, however, as she wore the most lovely, fashionable clothing in brilliant colors with flowing design and her hair magically rolled into a sort of top-knot with wispy frills decorating all angles. She exuded freshness and friendliness, and of course, there was that beautiful smile. I imagine anyone who visited our library a time or two would know her and remember her professionalism as well as her down-to-earth attitude. She guided and helped while teaching the value of books, research sources, and the contents of “her” library.

Mimi’s granddaughter explained to me that Mimi had visited her and her children just two nights before her death, as affable and gracious as ever, sharing fresh peaches from her tree with her two great-grandsons. “When the boys got on her nerves, she headed home,” Granddaughter smiled. “I would have never guessed… ” and two days later, with symptoms of the flu as her sole indicator, Mimi was gone.

And so while Mimi was not here for a long time, she must have been having a good time. Dedicated to her job and to her family, she did not seem interested in travel or even leaving home for very long. While she had plenty of money, she did not live extravagantly but rather with quiet grace. Her gentleness combined with competence transformed her into a sort of icon of dignity and charm in our community, coupled with kindness and understanding. I will always remember her elegance; I will work to emulate her style and poise. I thank her for her friendship and for adding to the essence of my life.